Oar support



Aug. 12, 1952 WADE 2,606,332

OAR SUPPORT I 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed June 12., 1950 INVENTOR. 2 O/UA L. DE. W40:-

1952 R. E. WADE 2,606,332

OAR SUPPORT Filed June 12, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. 'QOMALD E. WQDE Patented Aug. 12, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT.

OFFICE My invention relates in generalto. means .for

supporting an oar with respect to arowboat, and.

more in particular to an oar support which func;-. tions to withdraw thecars from the .water. when they are released by a rower.

Many different. connections have been used between oars and rowboatswhichwill produflei the necessary function in which the'oaris: pivot: edwith respectto the gunwale oithe boat about a substantially verticalpivot. Modern devices of this kind, comprising an oar lock having a,pivot pin and an car look socket for supporting the pin, take manyforms; but in all orthem. it is:

either necessary to withdraw the. oar lock pivot pin completely tosupport the oar out of the water, or to rotate the cars asuilicientdistance that the car handles are extended beyond the gunwaleof the boat and the paddle portion of the cars rests within the body ofthe boat. None of these constructions offers. any convenience insupporting oars when it is desired to remove them temporarily from thewater, as in fishing and indeed in many other instances in. which therower may wish only temporarily to release the oars.1

The principal object of my invention is the provision of improved meansfor supporting oars with respect to rowboats. i 7

Another object is the provision of such a support .which may adjusted toautomatically r ee move the paddle portions of the oars from the waterwhen the oars are temporarily released.

Still another object is the provision of an oar support of the typeidentified in which the oarsv are automatically withdrawn from the waterand also supported against rotation in the, oar lock sockets.

A further object is the provision. of an oar support adapted to be used'in all conventional ways and to utilize existing oar lock sockets, buthaving the additional feature or automatically removing the oars fromcontact with the water when they are released by a'rower.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings,wherein: I

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a rowboat, the oars'of which are supported inaccordance with the features of any invention. j 1

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view looking from the outside of theboat, a portion of the oar being shown in broken lines and the supportmechanism itself being shown in full lines.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view looking from the inside of theboat" but showin the car support above the car look socket.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view enlarged to substantially fullscale, the view being taken along the line 4 4-of Fig. l, a portion ofthe car being shown in elevation and a portion broken away in order toshow one way of attaching the oar to its support.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view having the: same scale as Fig. 4,and showing another method of attaching the car, the view comprisingFig. 5 being taken along the line 55 of Fig. 6. V

Fig; dis a fragmentary elevational view showing another method ofattaching the car.

- The oar-supporting mechanism of my inven tion is adapted for use withany usual rowboat, and canbe used with any usual oars I I The oar locksocket may be of any standard type, but.

in the drawings- I'haveshown a plate l2 with an integral tubular portionl3 secured by screws i to a reinforcing strip [6 near the top edge orgunwale of the boat. The-support itself comprises a bracket ll which isrelatively stationary and a bracket 18 of generally L-shape connected tothe bracket IT by a hinge I9 and thereby comprising arelatively movablebracket. The bracket l1 hasrigidly secured thereto a pin 2! whichfunctions as anoar lock pin and engages in standard fashion in thesocket formed by the tubular portion I3. The L-shaped bracket leisadapted? to supportone of the oars H in a suitable manner, as'will beexplained, so that the two brackets, together form the equivalent ofthefusual oar lock. permitting the oars to be used for rowing the boatexactly in accordance with conventional practice. I

The two brackets l1 and I8 together define a, general. U-shape as shownparticularly in Fig. 4, and a tension spring 22 is disposed between themto normally withdraw an car from the water when it is released. In thepreferred form of the invention, one end of the spring 22 is connectedto a tailpiece 23 on the bracket 11' some distance from the pin 2 I, andthe opposite end-is connected to the adjustableflink 24. The link atextends through aslot 25 in the web portion of the U which is alsooneleg of the L comprising thebracket l8. This endof the link alsoextends through a rocker bar 26,.and a wing nutz'l tightens against therocker bar to shorten or lengthen the link 24. Thus the tensionofspringzz can be'c'ontrolled; and it will be noted that the rocker bar 26engages .in'a recessed portion of the bracket so that under. any and allconditions assemblyismaintained' and the wing nut can be turned ineither direction.

, Th'lon'g'erleglofthe L-shape member I8 is of arcuate cross section toreceive the oar H,'and is provided ,with a numberof screw holes 28 and aseries-orjdgeisidts 2s; ,Whenit is desired to atmen ngea permanently tothe support, screws 3 I '(Fig. 4) may be used through the screw holes28. The cars, however, may be engaged by extending fastening rings 32through the edge slots 29,,a'nd pullin them together around the roundportion of the oar by means of 'a nut 33. and headed bo1t.34"(Figs.5and6).

To hold. the ,oar against rotation when itis removed frjoni the water,thereis provided at least one .proj e'ctionjtfi on the bottom side ofthebrack- 3 et l1 and at least one top groove 31 on the tubular portion I3defining the oar lock socket. Other or equivalent structure may beprovided, but the simple form shown makes it possible to fit my supportto already pre-existing sockets by merely filing a groove across the topof the same. In this way it is unnecessary to provide special socketswhen my support is sold; and of course if the user does not Wish toemploy this particu: lar feature, he may leave the top of the socketsmooth. It will be apparent at once that by means of this particulararrangement, the projection and grooves do not respond to each otherduring normal rowing operations, but when the oar is rotated about theaxis of pin 2| to a point where the oar is generally in alignment withthe gunwale of the boat, as shown in Fig. 1, the projection will'engagein the groove and prevent further turning of the oar. The position ofthe groove in the drawings is such that water dripping from the oarswill not enter the boat.

The support of my invention is shown for convenience in the form ofstampings from sheet steel, and the parts are of such construction asto' facilitate production in this manner. It is obvious that neitherthis form of construction nor the particular shape of parts isessential, it-being only necessary that the brackets, One carrying theoar and the other carrying-the oar lock pin, be hinged with respect toeach other and'that resilient means be provided between them biased insuch direction as to retract the oar from the water when it is released.I have found from experiment, however, that there is'a very definiteadvantage in the use of a spring under tension, and also an advantage ifthe total linkage comprising this spring is relatively long. Thisconstruction provides ample spring capacity for'supporting the oars,while still permittin the oars to be dipped into the water withoutappreciable effort on the part of the rower.

While the spring means between the brackets can be fastened, I havefound a very great advantage in using a construction in which thetension on the spring isadjustable. This not only makes it possible toadjust the tension for the particular oar, but it also makes it possibleto adjust the tension for a particular user of the oar or, if it isdesired for any reason, to release the tension entirely so that the carmay be used in a completely conventional manner. In connection with thebalancing of the spring tension and'suspended weight of the paddleportion of the oar, it will be apparent that some adjustment is alsopossible by changing the pivot point on the oar, a change which iseasily made particularly with the oar-supporting mechanism shown inFigs. 5 and 6. The desired balance between the suspended part of theoarand the spring 22 can of course also be obtained by weighting theoar, which can be accomplished by putting a metal edging around thepaddle portion. Thus, regardless of conditions, it is always possible toadjust the support of my invention so that the paddle portion of theoars will be raised but there will never be enough tension'to addappreciably to the labor of the rower.

Whatever the form of invention used, the brackets I1 and I8 movesomewhat with respect to each other about the hinge [9 during rowing.When the car blade is dipped into the water, these two brackets form ineffect an open U, and when the oars are raised by depressing thehandles, a closed leg U is formed. The spring 22 may be adjusted toraise the oars sufficiently to form a masses 4 closed leg U, but ingeneral, better balance is obtained if the spring force is only strongenough to raise the oars to horizontal position as shown in thedrawings.

Since my invention may take various forms and be used with anyconventional boats, oars, oar lock sockets, and the like, I do not wishto be bound by any particular form of the invention, but thescopethereof is defined solely by the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. The combination with an car look comprising an oar lock socket andoar lock pin adapted for insertion in the socket, of an oar lock bracketintegral with the said pin, an oar attachment bracket hinged to the carlook bracket, a spring connected to and tensioned between the twobrackets, and means for controlling the tension of the said spring tohold an oar out of water in substantially a horizontal position.

2. An oar suspension device comprising a bracket carrying an oar lockpin, a bracket adapted to support an oar, a hinge between the two saidbrackets, spring means connected between the brackets to swing the saidoar-supporting bracket on said hinge in a direction to move the oar outof water, and means for controlling the bias of said spring means.

3. An oar suspension device comprising a pair of brackets hingedtogether for relative movement about a horizontal axis, said bracketstogether defining a generally U-shape, an oar lock pin carried by onesuch bracket, means for securing an oar to the other end of saidbracket, and a spring connected to and tensioned between the brackets tonormally hold an oar out of water when 'said pin is supported in an oarlock socket. 4. An oar suspension device comprising a pair of bracketshinged together for relative movement about a horizontal axis, saidbrackets together defining agenerally U-shape, an oar lock pin carriedby one such bracket, means for securing an oar to the other end of saidbracket, a spring connected to and tensioned between the brackets tonormally hold an oar out of water i when said pin is supported in an oarlock socket,

and means for controlling the point at which said attaching means issecured to th oar.

5. An oar suspension device comprising an oar lock bracket with adownwardly directed pin adapted for support in an oar lock socket, an L-shaped bracket hinged to the oar lock bracket for movement about ahorizontal pivot, the said two brackets together defining a U, means forsupporting an oar on said L-shaped bracket, a spring having one endsecured to said oar lock bracket, a link secured to the other end ofsaid spring and having a threaded end projecting through that portion ofthe L-shaped member comprising the web of said U, and an adjusting nuton the said threaded end to control the tension of said spring,

RONALD E. WADE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 530,519 Harbers Dec. 11, 1894772,264 Wheeler Oct. 11, 1904 2,466,613 Richardson Apr. 5, 1949

